LETTER: Cheaper desexing and make it early

Newcastle Herald

LETTER: Cheaper desexing and make it early

By MAREE RAFTOS

I AM a dog lover and am appalled by the kill rates at RSPCA shelters (“Life or death” Herald 17/10).

The temperament test would appear to set most dogs up to fail before they sit it.

Dogs (like most living creatures, humans included) are fearful in unfamiliar surroundings and with unfamiliar people or other animals. They will react accordingly in an act of self-preservation and fear.

Calls for early and compulsory desexing are laudable. I’ve not owned a small pup in the Hunter, but going on my experiences in Sydney my vet was not prepared to desex my pups until they were four to six months old, depending on the size and weight of the pup.

But desexed or not yet desexed, responsible ownership must come into play both for the sake of the community, other animals and the dog itself. A pet is for life.

The RSPCA would go some way to regaining its high regard in the community by offering free or cheap desexing – but the buck ends with the owner.

If one isn’t prepared for the responsibility and cost of owning a pet, one shouldn’t own one. This should be kept in mind in the lead-up to Christmas.

Whist I fully agree that animals should be desexed, the trend today is *show me the money*, Vets are very expensive, thankfully there are groups of ordinary people who raise money to help low income earners to desex their animals. Just becasue you are a low income earner, should not mean you are denied an animal. The RSPCA has millions of dollars in assets and funds, ordinary people have donated and bequested this money to help animals, so why is it not being used to do just that?? IF they spend just one million dollars of that money each year for FREE desexing, then the situation would be different to what it is now. That will not happen, Vets would go up in arms, as you would be taking their bread and butter money, and the RSPCA would not release that money as it is *theirs* to do as they wish, not to support the animals needs. Unfortunately, money and greed dictate what will happen with these animals. and the back yard breeders who pimp their dogs for money will never get their dogs desexed, they are worth too much to them in money value. Centerlink should be asked to investigate people selling dogs and see if they are double dipping. I know I would dobe them in, so maybe everyone else should as well, I have to pay tax, so should people who make extra money on pimping their dogs.

I agree Maree. The RSPCA needs to use some of its large stockpile of money to offer free or cheap desexing of pets. This would make a big difference to the number of dogs and cats that wind up in pounds and ultimately killed there. I also feel that the law needs to be changed to make it illegal to sell a undesexed cat or dog. Just as a cat or dog needs to be microchipped and vaccinated before sale, it should also be desexed.